OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: Surf Diva, the world’s original surf school for women, announced Tuesday, March 18, the receipt of Action Sports Innovators (ASI) “Most Authentic Entrepreneur Award,” given to Izzy and Coco Tihanyi, twin sisters and business partners.

The award was presented on February 17th at ASI’s first networking event for action sports entrepreneurs, which took place at the San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum in Balboa Park.  Reef Sandals’ co-founder, Fernando Aguerre, presented the prestigious award to the twin sisters.

“Reef wasn’t a business organized like a business,” said Aguerre.  “We met with insane people who weren’t insane except their decision to work with us.”

As a former employer to Coco Tihanyi and good friend to the twins, Aguerre introduced the twin sisters with much familiarity and pride.

Action Sports Innovators (ASI), founded by Marco Thompson and incubated within CONNECT, is an exclusive community of CEOs, Founders, and Presidents of emerging action sports companies, focused solely on developing and sharing strategies for growth and success.  ASI brings such key executives together with a goal to strengthen networks, and provide speakers and presentations on topics of interests to the group.

Established in 1996 by twin sisters Izzy and Coco Tihanyi, Surf Diva has introduced thousands of women from all over the world to the sport and spirit of surfing and is internationally recognized as the world’s leading surf school.  Surf Diva offers a variety of surf lessons such as weekend clinics, private lessons, birthday & Bachelorette parties, corporate team building, and summer camps.

With Izzy as the ‘Surf’ and Coco the ‘Diva’, the Surf Diva boutique opened its doors in 2004 and has been selling a variety of fashion forward and functional surf gear ever since.  Surf Diva designs, markets, and sells its own line of apparel which includes a collection of tees, board shorts, skirts, swim wear, and jackets.  Surf Diva surfboards are sold globally under the Surftech license, and are recognized as the most beautifully crafted boards for women in the world.

Check out Surf Diva and ASI HERE.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

Cor surf announced Tuesday, March 18 the release of its revolutionary new multi-board rack, designed to function as four racks in one, according to a statement issued Tuesday, March 18, by the compnay.

The new rack can hold three boards, display two boards, store six boards vertically or store two boards and display one. The new rack comes in a dark-stained wood and is strong enough to hold the eheaviest of longboards. The Cor multi-rack has been designed and produced to be of the highest quality and one of the best priced multi-racks ever made, according to the release.

Order now and receive a free stainless steel Cor multi-tool, the only multi-tool designed specifically for surfers. For more information, ask your local shop or check out Corsurf.com.

Cor Surf Currently manufactures the best sellling single board rack int eh USA and is the innovator of the first ever multi-tool designed specifically for surfers, appropriately named “The-Tool.”

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

It may have a new name, but don’t be fooled: this year’s third annual Red Bull Riders Cup - formally known as Red Bull High School Cup - kicks off its first game at Hermosa Beach, California on April 1st, with the same old rivalries of years passed.

The National Surf League presents the Red Bull Riders Cup as the premiere high school
surfing tournament, bringing together the best young surfers in each region.

Thirty two schools from eight regions will battle it out in games sanctioned by the National Surf League until a champion is crowned.  The winner of each region will be invited to attend the national finals from June 13-15 for the chance to become the best high school surf team in the country.

The Red Bull Riders Cup will use “The Game” format for its tournament. The format is modeled after traditional team sports like basketball and football. The Red Bull Riders Cup is the first step to bringing a new outlook to the sport of surfing through the community and a structure people are familiar with. NSL founder Brad Gerlach says,

“The Game creates an easier understanding of surfing as a sport. The entire game spans less than two hours, with three periods, coaches and time outs. Family and friends are encouraged to come out and show support.”

The Red Bull Riders Cup will feature professional surfers coaching each high school team during their competition. Some of the professional surfers include Jamie Sterling, Ian Walsh Adam Virs, Brett Simpson, Austin Ware, Jeremy Sherwin, Omar Etcheverry, Nate Yeomans, Ratboy,Peter Mel, Mike Losness and many more.

The National Surf League and Red Bull have partnered to help bring the sport of surfing to a new and exciting level. “The NSL and Red Bull are both companies that are passionate about innovation and bringing out the best performance in surfing. I am very excited to see how we will grow and create a more entertaining and easier way to watch the sport,” Gerlach said.

The NSL is a revolutionary competitive surfing organization established in 2001 by legendary pro surfer, Brad Gerlach. The NSL is dedicated to the pursuit of surfing excellence, building awareness for the sport of surfing while creating a fun competitive landscape for all types of surfers.

Participating High Schools include:

South Bay:Mira Costa High, Redondo Union High, South Torrance High and Palos Verdes High.

Aptos High, Soquel High, Santa Cruz High, Harbor High and Scotts Valley High.

Golden State, Carpenteria High, Ventura High, Malibu High, Palisades High.

Orange County: San Clemente High, Huntington Beach High, Edison High and Newport Harbor High.

San Diego County: Carlsbad High, San Dieguito Academy, Torrey Pines High, Point Loma High

South Florida: Cardinal Gibbon High School, Calvary High School, Martin County High School and Jupiter High School.

Central Florida: Cocoa Beach High School, Satellite High, Melbourne High and Sebastian River High School.

New Jersey: Ocean City High, Atlantic City High, Manasquan High and Middletownship High.

Competition Schedule:
(West Coast start time 4:00pm/East Coast start time 3:30pm)

April 1-3/California-South Bay-Hermosa Beach
April 7-10 /California-Santa Cruz-Pleasure Point
April 15-17 / South Florida-Carlin Park, Jupiter
April 22-24/ Central Florida-Pelican Beach Park, Satellite Beach
May 6-8/ California-Golden State/Ventura- C-Street
May 13-15/ New Jersey- Ocean City 3rd Street
May 20-22/ California-Orange County- Huntington Beach Pier-South Side
May 27-29/ California-San Diego-Seaside Reef
*June 13-1/ California-TBD

For more information go to www.redbullsurfing.com

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

Prize Fighter Cutlery Urethane proudly announced Monday, March 17, the release of its Spring 2008 collection, according to a statement issued by the company.

This time around the Cutlery have issued a pro model wheel for team rider Billy Rohan.
The inaugural fifty sets of Billy Rohan’s Crazy Pills will be packaged in hand numbered pill bottles. The wheel is available in 52mm. The plaid graphic based Lumberjack wheel will be available in two sizes; 50mm and 54mm. Limited sets of each size will hit the public in hand sewn flannel pouches whose color corresponds to the wheel graphics.

As always the wheels are made from the American manufactured 101A championship
urethane Cutlery riders fiend for. Prize Fighter Cutlery has been slashing through the rugged New York City streets for a little more than a year now and continues to spread throughout the northeast underground.

They aim to keep product quality high and keep an interesting angle of presentation.
Look for them to be a part of several New York area events this coming Spring and
Summer.

The official team line up at press time is: Billy Rohan, Lurker Lou, Nick Sassa and Taji Ameen.

Pro surfer Alex Gray will appear on Fuel TV’s “The Daily Habit Friday,” March 21, at 9 pm ET (6:00 pm PT), according to a press release issued Monday, March 17, by Fuel TV.

Get your stoke on because Gray will talk about all his latest adventures and his epic wave charging around the world. Plus, Fuel TV is proud to have musical guest “Against Me!” a band with a politically charged punk sound. The show will also check out the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset with Contest Director Randy Rarick for one of their biggest days in recent history.

Alex Gray’s sponsors include: Volcom, Channel Islands, Body Glove, On A Mission and Go211.com.



Transworld Business sat down with Keir Dillon after his recent win at the Nippon Open to find out about coming off the sidelines, his future plans and fatherhood.

After suffering a shoulder injury and a hiatus from the winner’s platform since August 2005, Keir Dillon showed that he’s still got some tricks up his sleeve with a huge win in a huge pipe at the Nippon Open on March 2nd. Transworld Business caught up with Keir on his way to Utah for a fifth place finish in the Superpipe Championships.

Transworld Business:
Last month you were doing sideline reports at the X Games and now you’re on the winner’s podium. What got you to drop in for this contest?

Keir Dillon:
I did the X games reporting because it was a good opportunity to work with the ESPN crew. Those guys are real deal and I learned a lot, I also got tired of showing up to X Games stressing, falling in qualifiers and it was over. This past year was probably one of my most fun times there working with Todd and Sal. As far as Nippon, I was doing some hosting there as well, but I have it set up so I can ride also. Japan always has good pow, an amazing crowd and a fun pipe. This year was no different, so it was all good.

What would your commentary have been on your run if you were announcing it?
I don’t know, it’s hard to put on that cheesy announcer voice in email. So I think the effect would be lost. I think the closer would have been: “even the sun shines on a dog’s A** every once in awhile.”

This is your best finish in a major comp in a while - been eating Wheaties
or what?
With working on other projects, it seems to have brought snowboarding back to being just fun. No stress - doesn’t really matter anymore how I do, so it allows me to go out there and enjoy it once again. Also I think riding with all my boys from the frends crew has really brought back that same element for me.

How’s the shoulder doing?
Its all good - thanks to a million pushups.

What are your plans for upcoming contests, projects, etc?
US Open, is next on the list, coming out of the East, it’s probably one of my favorite contests to do. Working on some TV shows, try and show snowboarding and action sports and the people I hang with, the way I see it.. Staying true to who we are, and having a lot of fun along the way… traveling and doing mini webesodies with friends.

I heard that you’re sidelining as an obstetrician. Tell me about your daughter’s big coming out event?

Long story short, I think all the talk about doing kickflips and mctwists in the belly got her all excited and she couldn’t wait for the hospital. Luckily I watched a lot of the Cosby’s when I was a kid so it was all good in holding it down in the living room. I will say tying the cord with dental floss was something that they don’t teach you in health class.

In the last twelve months, Vista’s own Brian “Slash” Hansen has gotten what’s known as the “Sponsor Overhaul.” When Pig wood went under, he floated around for a while. Since then, he’s been fielding offers left and right. He went from Black Label to Deathwish, Vox to Fallen, and according to his Fallen Footwear profile, he’s gone from Split to Altamont. Then again, according to the same profile, his current set up is a “CCS Complete.”

Ah, sarcasm.

We here at Transworld Business go straight to the source to quell the Internet rumors. Here’s what the man himself has to say about a bunch of things that I thought to ask him:

Who was your first sponsor?

Decade, it’s a shop in Vista.

When was that?

Like 5 or 6 years ago, I guess.

You’ve had quite the sponsor overhaul lately. Are you finally settled in, or are you going to keep jumping around?

Yeah, I’m fucking chilling.

Are you worried about getting a reputation for switching sponsors? On the one hand you have Steve Caballero, who has been Powell and Vans for 200 years, but on the other hand, Kris Markovich and Mike Vallely have skated for dozens of companies. All three of those guys have stood the test of time.

Ha, I was just put in some un-turndownable situations with all three, you know? I needed a shoe sponsor, because Vox wasn’t really doing anything with me. That’s how Fallen happened. And then I was on that Wild Ride with the Emerica dudes, and Reynolds just said “Hey we’re making a new company, do you think you’ll be down?” and this was way before it [Deathwish] was really in the works, no name, no nothing. He said “I don’t know who’s going to be on the team, but I want you to be the first one.” So I said “Fuck, I’m down. I’ll do it.”Then Label wanted me to commit, and I had to tell them I had this opportunity. Label’s sick as fuck, but I had to go see what was up with it [Reynolds’ company].

I can see how it would be hard to turn down offers from heavy hitters like Jamie Thomas and Andrew Reynolds.

Split was paying me, but I couldn’t really wear any of their clothes you know? I can’t wear black jeans, and that’s like all they had. They had like one pair of blue jeans. And they wanted to hold my footage for a Split video, when I needed it for the Fallen video. I don’t know, if you come at me like that, you’ve lost.I don’t know what’s being said about me on the message boards, I don’t check that shit. But there’s an explanation for every move that happened.

Don’t feel bad. I’ve had four different jobs in the last eight years. Five if you count driving a bus on an Osiris tour. So, has the grass been greener on the other side so far?

Yeah, it’s better, but it’s pretty much the same, you know? It’s not like I was offered quadruple the money or anything. I get paid the exact same, I wasn’t leaving for the big payday or anything.

How old are you?

I’m 21. Meet me at Hensley’s!

You bastard. Okay, Deathwish dropped the Deathwish nickname. Spanky’s trying to just be Kevin Long. So, are you Slash, or are you Brian?

I’m stuck. I’m whatever. I introduce myself as Brian, but I’m pretty much stuck going with it. I’m not repping it or anything. People ask me what I want in the ads, but it doesn’t matter to me. That Deathwish kid didn’t even want to be Deathwish in the first place.

What’s the deal with the footage of you ollieing that gap to grind off Sycamore—it was a spread in Thrasher—is it going to be in the Fallen video?

Yeah, actually it is. It’s actually really funny you asked me about that. When I shot it, I met the photographer and videographer there. I went there straight from my house, on my bike. It was like 10 in the morning. It was just us three, and I wasn’t riding for anyone at that point. The filmer had to meet Bobier at the Zero park, so I was trying to warm up, and I said “I don’t know if I can do it yet.” So he leaves, and I ended up doing it in like 3 or 4 tries, so all I had was the sequence. And just recently, like within 2 weeks, I got the courage to go get the footage.

Have you ever ollied the Carlsbad High gap?

Yeah.

They’re pretty much the same size, right?

Yeah, I actually compared the two when I was trying it. But for the gap-to-grind there’s a curb at the top so you’re kind of guessing where you’re going.

Cool, I’m glad you got the footage.

Yeah, I’m hyped.

[This photo ran in Thrasher's March 2007 issue and was shot by Nick Scurich. Also, it's fucking gnarly.]

In the next few months, Brian will have footage in Fallen’s Ride The Sky and Baker Has A Deathwish. But until then, you can check out some older footage here. Behold, the power of the Internet!

Vox Black and Blue Promo (2007)

Pig Slaughterhouse (2005)

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: Transworld Business, a division of Bonnier Corporation, is pleased to announce the promotions of Kristina Ackermann and Billy Corvalan to Managing Editor and Sales Manager as well as the hiring of Senior Snowboarding Editor, Mike Lewis.

Kristina Ackermann began her editorial career writing copy at a daily newspaper in Santa Barbara, where she attended college. She then spent two years working as an editor for a local Santa Barbara lifestyle magazine. In early 2007, she moved to Encinitas and joined Transworld Business as Associate Editor. In her new position, Kristina will be responsible for overseeing and coordinating the publication’s editorial activities.

Billy Corvalan broke into the action sports industry in 2002 as a sales rep for various surf brands including Aaron Chang and Billygoat Distribution. In 2005, he was hired by Transworld SURF as an advertising sales rep for the endemic market. In his two and a half years at Transworld, his purview has grown to encompass larger accounts and as Transworld Business’ Sales Manager, Billy will be the driving force for advertising sales for both print and online.

Mike Lewis has been riding snowboards for 20 years and writing about them for 15. Mike’s career with Transworld began as a freelancer in 2000 and he will now come on-board to fill the Senior Snowboarding Editor post. Mike’s resume includes various articles for local newspapers in Colorado and action sports multimedia brand Bluetorch. Mike will be based out of one of Transworld’s satellite offices in Denver, Colorado.

“These changes represent key moves for the progression of our title,” Rob Campbell, publisher of Transworld Business, said. “I already knew that Mike was a top contributor to the mag. Once I found out he had an MBA and hosted his bachelor party at Silverton Mountain, I was completely sold. Kristina has proven herself not only as an excellent journalist, but also as a strong manager who is able to keep our staff on point. On the other side of the equation, Billy Corvalan brings the sales experience and muscle we need to remind advertisers what a critical role the Biz mag plays in our industry.”

About Transworld Media
Transworld Media is the world’s leading action sports media brand and publisher of action sports publications and Web sites in terms of advertising, audience, and brand recognition. Based in San Diego, California, Transworld properties reach a combined monthly audience of more than 5 million teen boys, one of the most challenging audiences to reach through traditional media. The division’s magazines – all leading publications in their categories – include Transworld SKATEboarding, Transworld SURF, Transworld SNOWboarding, Transworld RideBMX, Transworld Motocross, and QUAD Off-Road.

These six consumer titles, as well as the monthly trade magazine Transworld Business, are the print foundation of a multi-media platform including action sports films, leading events, and the Transworld Matrix of Web sites, found at www.Transworldmatrix.com <http://www.transworldmatrix.com/> , the largest action sports community online.